New Island Resources Inc. (New Island)(TSXV:NIS) of St. John�s, NL is pleased to announce that it has commenced drilling at the site of the former producing Nugget Pond gold mine of Richmont Mines Inc. (Richmont) (TSX:RIC:AMEX) located in northwestern Newfoundland.

The initial drill program will comprise a minimum of 2000 meters in 10 holes. 6 holes will test a �new zone� of gold mineralization intersected in 15 holes previously drilled by Richmont trending north/south (mine grid) and located northwest of the main ore body.

4 holes will target a previously drilled section of the 'footwall zone' on which Richmont calculated a proven and probable reserve of 43,000 tonnes at an undiluted grade of 9 grams per ton. The company is treating these as historical resources, which have not been verified by a Qualified Person and, as such, should not be relied upon. The purpose of the current drilling is to upgrade to National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Susan A. Scott, M.Sc., P.Geo. will oversee the drilling and serve as a Qualified Person for this project under National Instrument 43-101.

During the period 1997-2001 the Nugget Pond mine produced 537,672 tonnes of ore at an average grade of .32 ounces per tonne with a mill recovery rate of 97.96%, yielding 168,745 ounces at a cash cost of Can. 220 dollars per ounce.

New Island holds an option to acquire the Nugget Pond mill and property from Richmont at a price of 2,500,000 dollars, the assumption of certain reclamation bonding and a commitment to expend 1,000,000 dollars on exploration. Should the option, which expires in late October 2006, be exercised, Richmont will have the right to retain a 30% interest by paying New Island 1,000,000 dollars or reducing the price by an equivalent amount.

New Island considers the Nugget Pond assets to be of significant value and highly prospective for the discovery of additional reserves. A further attraction is the existence of an operational mill on site.

For further information, please contact:

Harold Wareham, President, Telephone: (709) 576-7711   Fax: (709) 576-2236 Email: info@newislandresources.com www.newislandresources.com

Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties not under the company's control, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from the results, performance or expectations implied by these forward-looking statements .